So yeah, I’m the Sister who not only will be doing the half marathon with the rest of my Team Shrinking Jeans teammates this weekend (woot woot!), but I am the craziest of all for deciding to bring my entire family with me. The crazy part isn’t that we’ll be together, no the crazy part is that we are DRIVING from Austin, TX to San Diego, California kill me now.
I am not a huge fan of long car trips with the kids in the car b/c um hello- they whine and complain and ask “are we there yet” a million times….oh wait, THAT’S ME! so I know my husband was positively shocked when I suggested that we drive the fam fam instead of flying. Of course, now that we are a family of five, buying that many plane tickets and then having to rent a minivan to fit all the darn car seats could and would blow a HUGE hole in our pocketbook that is seriously hurting right now what with TWO mortgage payments- don’t ask.
Hence, we are driving. I might need a stiff drink by the time we arrive. IJS.
Anyhoo, I thought I would kick off the first Thursday Three’s of the Summer with an “On the Road” edition I am writing this Sunday night before we are even on the road, just in case I don’t have internet access. I’m such a smart Sister. I thought I would share with you some ideas that I am using to make our travels easier and hopefully, not too painful for anyone involved.
Here we go!
1. I have three children (ages 6, 4, 1.5). My mom has three children and the ONLY way we traveled as a family back in the day was by car. Needless to say, my mom (who also happens to be a pre-school teacher) had lots and lots of ideas for me. In fact, when I was my daughter’s ages, my parents took me and my siblings to California, kind of on the same road trip that MY family is about to embark on and they lived to tell about it…..I’m rambling again.
My mom suggested (and I took the suggestion) of packing the kids clothes BY DAY, putting the whole lot of clothes for ALL THREE kids INTO one giant zippy bag. I now have 7 days of zippy bags, each bag holding one outfit for Sophie, one outfit for Sam, and one outfit for Little Anthony (including socks and undies/diaper). Regardless of who is dressing them, that person only has to grab one bag to dress all three. GENIUS.
2. Making this trip a little easier to swallow, my wonderful, awesome MIL is flying with the toddler and meeting us in San Diego yes she is a Saint and no, you cannot have her. That means we will only have the two older kids for the car trip and they are easier to entertain. Given that, each kid is allowed one backpack of toys/books. Unknown to them, I have also packed a goodie bag of new books/coloring books/stickers/DVD/etc for each of them (going and coming). When the going gets tough, this Mommy is prepared to get creative to make them earn a goodie from the “goodie bag”.
3. DVD player. Wireless headphones. Need I say more?
So tell me, if and when you travel with kids on road trips, what are your secrets to staying sane, keeping the kids happy and arriving intact to your destination? Don’t be shy. Don’t hold the secrets in. Share!
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